Keion Henderson - Don't Worry About the Lions

On Sunday, I received a ton of feedback just from the first portion of the sermon about swallowing the bitter pill. I got so much that, while we were in church at 11 o’clock, I realized everyone else was also in church at that time -nearly a thousand people were watching that sermon live! We have thousands who watch later after they leave church, but there were a thousand people online at the same time you were in church. Some people told me, «Rev, I was at my church, but I was looking at you all streaming, and I needed that confirmation .» Sometimes, when you preach, you wonder if it’s helping people, but when people respond like that, you know the Holy Spirit is truly speaking.

So, I thought today we should continue that conversation. One of the things we do in church is come every week, and everybody wants a rhema word. However, that doesn’t always mean a new word. Sometimes, it can take weeks, if not months, to work through an issue. Come on, somebody! I’m not going to preach the same text; I’m not even talking about the same biblical context. I am discussing the same identity crisis: when you are faced with something difficult to swallow, somehow you need to get that thing out of your chest.

The devil wants you to have a spiritual acid reflux episode every time you receive a word that could help you move on. He wants to bring it back up because he’d rather you vomit it than digest it. So, we’re going to talk about that today. I want you to go with me to a familiar passage of Scripture, but I am NOT going to preach the familiar part. I want you to turn to Daniel chapter 6, where Daniel goes to the lion’s den. We usually preach verses 15 through 28, but I’m going to start at verse 1. Let’s find out how he ended up there in the first place, okay?

This is an important text, something you need to hide in your heart and use in your future studies. Are you with me so far? If you’re ready, say «go.» Here 's what the Bible says: «It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty princes to oversee the whole kingdom, and over these were three presidents.» So, there are a hundred and twenty senators, congressional leaders, princes- people with great notoriety and responsibility. Then he puts three presidents over them, and over the three presidents is Darius, the king, of whom Daniel was first. I want you to mark that; he put three presidents over a hundred and twenty princes, and what was Daniel 's position? He was first.

The princes might give accounts to them so that the king would suffer no loss. Then, this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because of an excellent spirit-not an excellent IQ, not an excellent bank account, not excellent notoriety, but an excellent spirit. Hallelujah, Jesus! The king thought to set him over the whole operation because of his spirit.

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. Now, why are you attacking a man with a great spirit? They couldn’t find anything wrong since he was faithful; neither was there any error or fault found in him. So, since they couldn’t find fault, this is what they did in verse five. They go to the king and create a law stating that if anyone prays to anyone other than you, King Darius, they should be thrown into the lion’s den. The king says, «Alright, I agree with it.»

After that, Daniel, knowing that the decree would kill anyone who prayed to anyone other than Darius, goes to his window, opens it, and begins to pray. Do I have any holy gangsters in here? He went to his window and said, «I’m not going to hide; I’m about to do what I’ve been doing, and this time I’m going to do it right in your face!» I think this is going to help somebody.

Well, you know what happens after this, right? Daniel ends up in the lion’s den, and there was no dispute about that. But I want to talk today for everyone who’s worried about what might happen to you. Just do me a favor; help your neighbor and say, «Neighbor, don’t worry about the lions.» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.

Don 't worry about the lions. When a new president, ruler, or CEO takes a position in a new business, you’ve seen this with acquisitions and mergers. When two companies come together, the first thing the new leader does is clean house and pick his own team. It does not matter how good the people were who were there when he took over; he understands there is a difference between good people and those who will get his vision.